Truck traffic could be heavy if transfer station takes garbage

CHARLES TOWN, W.Va. - If the old Jefferson County Landfill accepts garbage, as many as 15 tractor-trailers could be departing the facility daily to haul out the trash, a county official said last week.

Instead of increasing the amount of garbage that can be accepted at the LCS Services Inc. landfill near Hedgesville, W.Va., officials have proposed that a transfer station at the old Jefferson County Landfill off Leetown Pike be used to help dispose of the Eastern Panhandle's trash.

According to the plan, garbage would be brought to the transfer station and then hauled by tractor-trailers to a landfill near Richmond, Va., officials have said.

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Officials initially believed about seven tractor-trailers would be departing from the transfer station each day. But on Thursday, Jefferson County Commissioner Rusty Morgan said about 15 tractor-trailers might be leaving the transfer station daily, Morgan said.

Morgan said the truck traffic should not be that noticeable, adding that trash trucks already are circulating through the area daily.

Some of the truck departures may be conducted at night, Morgan said.

The cost to upgrade the transfer station to allow for the operation would be $100,000 to $600,000, Morgan said. One proposal is to have Waste Management of the Shenandoah Valley pay for the improvements, although that might result in the county losing control over how the transfer station is used, Morgan said.

Officials have been studying other ways of disposing the area's trash since the LCS Services Inc. landfill, which is owned by Waste Management, began hitting its monthly tonnage limit regularly.

LCS only can accept a maximum of 9,999 tons of garbage a month and trash has been accumulating in local communities when the landfill hits the limit.

LCS wants to go from a Class B to a Class A landfill, which would allow it to accept 15,000 tons of garbage instead of 9,999 tons a month.